Gov. Bobby Jindal, five congressmen call for delay in redrawing U.S. House districts

With just days remaining in the Legislature's post-census redistricting session, five Republican members of Louisiana's congressional delegation and Gov. Bobby Jindal are calling for state lawmakers to postpone drawing new U.S. House districts until 2012.

The request for postponement first became public Saturday in a letter from the congressmen to the governor. Jindal's chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, said the governor also supports waiting until next year.

Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, left, and Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, are among the congressmen who want state lawmakers to punt on redrawing U.S. House districts.

The development increases the likelihood that the Legislature will conclude the session, which by law must end by Wednesday, without reaching a resolution on how to realign the state's current seven congressional districts into six.

The letter also ratchets up the tensions in a process already fraught with competing regional, party, racial and incumbent interests, and featuring rare public spats among the state's GOP congressmen, who often walk lockstep on questions of policy.

Instead, they wrote that the looming state budget debate, which will play out in the regular session that begins April 25, deserves state legislators' full attention.

They added: "The people of Louisiana should have more time to think about their future and their needs and how those needs could be affected by congressional redistricting."

U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, was the only Republican incumbent not to sign the letter, a stark contrast from when he joined several of his colleagues -- with the notable exception of the freshman Landry -- to present a united front on redistricting earlier this year. He released a statement Saturday calling for the Legislature to finish its work and echoing his recent insistence on keeping Acadiana and the Lake Charles area in a single district.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, the state's only Democratic House member, has been largely immune from the melee because he will retain a majority African-American district.

Teepell said waiting a year would pose no problem because Congress isn't on the ballot this fall, unlike the Legislature, the Public Service Commission and the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. "Deadlines have a way of focusing the mind and forcing the compromise we need," he said.

Teepell said he has discussed the matter with Senate President Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, and he described Chaisson as "supportive." But Chaisson framed his position differently, saying he planned to discuss the matter with senators before they reconvene Monday.

Teepell said he has not talked with House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers.

The House and Senate have passed competing maps, with the lower chamber opting for two districts in north Louisiana running generally north-south, as Jindal, Alexander and Fleming have advocated. The Senate adopted a plan with east-west districts in north Louisiana, but that bill died last week in a House committee.

The Senate is scheduled to take up three additional congressional maps when it reconvenes Monday. Fleming is outspoken that some maps would make him vulnerable to a Democratic challenger. But satisfying Fleming and Alexander has yielded maps that displease south Louisiana lawmakers who do not want their regions -- such as Acadiana, the north shore and Terrebonne-Lafourche -- carved up.

Chaisson said Saturday he has not seen the letter but was "aware that one was coming." He confirmed he has talked with Teepell but called it "premature" to say he has expressed a position on the idea of postponing a decision. He did acknowledge that the governor's and the delegation's position will carry weight with some legislators.

Chaisson has been working with Sen. Neil Riser, R-Columbia, on a compromise map. "It's been hard enough to get 20 votes" needed for Senate passage, he said. "It will only make it harder knowing five members of Congress don't want us to act."

Tucker could not be reached Saturday.

House Minority Leader John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, said a delay would only put voters and potential congressional challengers at a disadvantage, while strengthening incumbents. And he lamented the fact the congressional delegation sent the letter to Jindal, not legislative leaders. He noted that the Legislature called the special session, not the governor.

Edwards said Republican leaders could be seeking to put off the redistricting until after the 2011 legislative elections, when a new, perhaps more heavily Republican Legislature would draw the new lines. But, he noted, "They've got majorities now" that can't overcome regional fissures that cross party lines.

"I would hope we would go ahead and do our job," he said. "Quite frankly, it almost seems like they've been in Washington too long, where they don't know how to get their work done."

State Sen. J.P. Morrell, D-New Orleans, took an even firmer tone. "Could you imagine how angry they would be if the Louisiana Legislature circumvented them to ask the president directly about something we need for Louisiana?" he said. "I've got a better idea: Why don't you guys go pass a budget. You do your jobs, and leave us to do ours."